Dinner Tonight: Open-Faced Egg Salad Sandwich With Bacon

Years ago, in a very misguided attempt to make the best hamburger known to man, I passed on the fluffy white buns in favor of slices from a crusty loaf of artisanal bread. You can imagine what happened next. Though tasty on its own, when toasted and topped with loads of fatty toppings, the slices cracked and fell apart, while simultaneously covering up the essential character of the burger. No good.

This is a roundabout way of saying that it's important to know what a specific loaf of bread can and cannot do. So when I got my hands on the astonishing bread from Cellar Door Provisions in Chicago, I decided to keep things as simple as possible, whipping up a straightforward batch of egg salad and serving it as an open-faced sandwich.

The egg salad is really easy. Boil some eggs (here's a great guide), chop some scallions and celery, stir together mayonnaise and lemon juice, and combine. While great on its own, I couldn't help but add some bacon to the party. The addition is completely up to you. But what's truly going to elevate this meal is the bread—I suggest only moving forward when you have some exceptional crusty wheat bread on-hand.